US naval officer and statesman, born in Washington, Indiana, USA. He studied at the US Naval Academy and the California Institute of Technology, and became chief of naval operations during the 1970s. In 1981 he joined President Reagan's National Security Council (NSC), becoming National Security Adviser in 1985. He resigned the following year, together with his assistant, Oliver North, in the aftermath of the Irangate affair (1987), a political scandal in which the NSC became involved in secret weapons transactions that violated the public policy of the US government. Retiring from the navy as a rear-admiral in 1987, he was convicted in 1990 by a Federal court on charges of conspiracy, obstructing Congressional inquiries, and lying to Congress. His conviction was later overturned.
John Marlan Poindexter (born August 12, 1936 in Odon, Indiana), a retired naval officer, is best known as a prominent United States Department of Defense official.
Education and early career
In 1958, John Poindexter graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a bachelor of science degree in engineering and was commissioned an ensign.
From 1961 to 1964, Poindexter worked as a laboratory assistant at Caltech, where he conducted laboratory research to further develop a model for understanding the Mossbauer effect with Nobel Laureate Rudolph Mossbauer.
Naval career
From 1958 to 1987, Poindexter served as an officer in the United States Navy.
U.S. Executive branch service
Poindexter went on to serve in the Reagan Administration as Military Assistant, from 1981 to 1983, as Deputy National Security Advisor from 1983 to 1985, and as National Security Advisor from 1985 to 1986. From 1983 to 1985, Poindexter was responsible for leading and managing the National Security Council staff as chairman of the Crisis Pre-planning Group. As National Security Advisor, Vice Admiral Poindexter was responsible for providing recommendations to the President on national security, foreign policy and defense policy.
Iran-Contra Affair
Poindexter was convicted on multiple felony counts on April 7, 1990 for conspiracy, obstruction of justice, perjury, defrauding the government, and the alteration and destruction of evidence pertaining to the Iran-Contra Affair. The convictions were reversed in 1991 on the technical grounds that the prosecution's evidence may have been tainted by exposure to Poindexter's testimony before the joint House-Senate committee investigating the matter, in which Poindexter's testimony was compelled by a grant of 'use immunity'.
Defense contractor work
From 1988 to 1989, Poindexter was senior scientist at Presearch, Inc., which had primarily been involved with defense studies and analysis.
From 1990 to 1996, Poindexter served as co-founder of TP Systems, Inc., a software development firm specializing in commercial software for the IBM PCs and compatibles;
From 1993 to 1996, Poindexter served as a consultant to Elkins Group.
From 1996 to 2002 Poindexter served as senior vice president for SYNTEK Technologies. Poindexter was responsible for high-level advice on management and direction of information systems projects (for example Defense Advanced Research Project Agency's Project Genoa).
Recall to public service
From December, 2002, to August, 2003, Poindexter served as the Director of the DARPA Information Awareness Office (IAO).
Poindexter also faced immense criticism from the media and politicians about the Policy Analysis Market project, a futures exchange that would have allowed trading in, and profiting from, such events as the assassination of heads of state and acts of terrorism.
Family
His wife, Linda Poindexter, was an Episcopal priest for 13 years, but left the clergy when she converted to Roman Catholicism.
Biographical links
- News Article featuring Poindexter ignoring being referred to as a terrorist ComputerBytesMan.com - 'Dr. John Poindexter Bio' WarBlogging.com - John Poindexter resume (archived from google cache) WarBlogging.com - 'Who is John Poindexter?' Freeservers.com - 'Episcopal Priest Becomes Catholic Laywoman' (intereview with Linda Poindexter), Stephen Ryan, National Catholic Register (August 1, 2001)Iran-Contra links
CNN.com - 'Iran-Contra: White House e-mail' Dreamscape.com - 'The Iran-Contra Scandal', David Wallechinsky FAS.org - Report of Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh, US Congressional Record (June 30, 1992) Slate.msn.com - 'John Poindexter, "Outstanding American": Ari Fleischer salutes a mendacious former national security adviser', Timothy Noah (February 25, 2002)Total Information Awareness links
CitizineMag.com - 'Senator Assails "Total Info Awareness"', Roggie McFadden (January 17, 2003) Cryptome.org - Poindexter's resignation letter to DARPA Director Anthony Tether (August 12, 2003) Guardian.co.uk - 'No more Mr. Scrupulous Guy: How one of the two brains behind the Iran-Contra scandal this week became one of America's most powerful men', John Sutherland, The Guardian (February 18, 2002) HereInReality.com - 'Meet Big Brother' NewYorker.com - 'Too Much Information' (opinion) New Yorker, Hendrik Hertzberg (December 9, 2002) PoliTechBot.com - 'Transcript of Pentagon briefing on Poindexter's "TIA" program' (November 24, 2002) WashingtonPost.com - 'Poindexter to Leave Pentagon Research Job: Project to Create Futures Market on Events in Middle East Caused Controversy', Bradley Graham, Washington Post (August 1, 2003)|
Preceded by: Robert McFarlane |
United States National Security Advisor 1985—1986 |
Succeeded by: Frank Carlucci |
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